Olhar Poente - Associação Desenvolvimento

Olhar Poente is a Private Social Solidarity Institution (IPSS) in Portugal, officially recognised as a Public Utility Institution, based on Terceira Island, Azores. Founded in 2009 and operational since 2010, our organisation has grown into a regional reference in promoting quality education, developing innovative social services, and building a more engaged, inclusive and resilient community.

Over more than a decade of sustained growth, we now manage nurseries, after-school and holiday activity centres (CATL), early childhood intervention services, parenting support projects, vocational training and social innovation initiatives across several parishes of the municipality of Praia da Vitória and Terceira Island.

Awards & Certifications

Our commitment to quality and to the protection of children's rights has been formally recognised:

• European Quality Certification — ISO 9001:2015, awarded for our nursery and after-school care (CATL) social services, the first such recognition in the Azores region for these services;

• "Selo Protetor" (Protective Seal), awarded by the National Commission for the Promotion of Children's and Young People's Rights and Protection — the first time this recognition was granted to an organisation on Terceira Island;

• "Healthy Workplace" Award, granted by the Portuguese Order of Psychologists, recognising our good practices in occupational health, safety and well-being.

Vision and Mission

We aim to stand out as a leading institution in promoting quality education and innovative pedagogy, fostering in children and young people the desire to learn more and better, using new technologies. Our mission is to promote local development, encouraging the active participation of all community actors in building a more cohesive, sustainable territory with better living conditions — whether through our own initiative or in collaboration with national and international bodies and partners.

We are guided by the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Rights of the Child, and by values of solidarity, cooperation, participation, respect, sound organisation and institutional pride — values we apply both in our daily work with local families and children and in the partnerships we build across borders.

European Experience

A European and international dimension is already part of Olhar Poente's identity. Between 2014 and 2017 we ran the three-year educational project "A Terceira na Europa" ("The Terceira in Europe"), which culminated in support from the European Parliament and enabled children from our social services to visit Brussels. More recently, we organised the 1st Island Congress "Olhar o Futuro: Educação, Cérebro e Mente", supported by the Presidency of the Republic, the European Parliament and the Luso-American Development Foundation.

We currently lead the 3EAZ project (http://3eaz.olharpoente.pt), targeting NEET youth (not in education, employment or training), funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. We also run several approved international projects under the European Solidarity Corps and Erasmus+ programmes, hosting and sending volunteers and exchanging good practices with organisations across Europe. In addition, we develop projects funded by the "la Caixa" Foundation and Caixa Social, strengthening our capacity to generate sustained social impact through diversified national and international funding.

This consolidated experience prepares our team to join, with technical and financial solidity, new consortia under programmes such as Erasmus+, the European Solidarity Corps, Horizon Europe, or cohesion and regional development funds.

Why We Are a Trusted Partner

Our location on Terceira Island, an outermost region of the European Union, gives us a unique perspective on territorial cohesion, insularity, and equitable access to quality services. We are a certified training provider recognised by the Regional Directorate for Professional Qualification and Employment of the Azores, with a consolidated organisational structure, transparent financial management, and a proven track record of executing projects funded by public, EU and private foundation sources.We invite European organisations interested in developing joint applications to European Union programmes to get in touch. We are ready to share experience, co-develop proposals, and join consortia that place education, social inclusion and community development at the centre of the European agenda.